Hybrid Fruit to Fight Climate Change

[Rachel Rugelach]

"You've probably never seen this fruit in your life. This isn't a plum and it isn't a pomegranate. It's a plum-egranate, and it wasn't just created for you to discover a new flavor. It's one of many new hybrid fruit that are being developed to resist climate change... Welcome to Ben Dor Nurseries, a small family farm operating in Northern Israel that's been here since the late 1800s. Now this isn't any old farm. These farmers are developing new kinds of fruit that are going to be able to withstand all kinds of weather conditions to hopefully fight hunger in the future." (See video below for more.)

The reporter in the video states: "The bottom line is that, as the climate heats up, what we eat is going to have to change because not every crop will survive."

From a religious standpoint (as this is Religious Forums, after all) it's my understanding that, while the Torah says "nay" to propagating hybrid produce, there is nothing stopping an observant Jew from eating any of this hybrid fruit. I'm tagging @rosends (who I know is a rabbi) to either confirm or correct my statement on hybrid fruit.

I found this video fascinating, and would very much like to try a plum-egranate, watermelon plum, or aromacot. Anyone else?

 

[Quagmire]

Informative^

You know what would be cool? If they came up with a way to cross a pine tree and an apple tree and called the fruit pine-apple, just to confuse people.

 

[Twilight Hue]

"You've probably never seen this fruit in your life. This isn't a plum and it isn't a pomegranate. It's a plum-egranate, and it wasn't just created for you to discover a new flavor. It's one of many new hybrid fruit that are being developed to resist climate change... Welcome to Ben Dor Nurseries, a small family farm operating in Northern Israel that's been here since the late 1800s. Now this isn't any old farm. These farmers are developing new kinds of fruit that are going to be able to withstand all kinds of weather conditions to hopefully fight hunger in the future." (See video below for more.)

The reporter in the video states: "The bottom line is that, as the climate heats up, what we eat is going to have to change because not every crop will survive."

From a religious standpoint (as this is Religious Forums, after all) it's my understanding that, while the Torah says "nay" to propagating hybrid produce, there is nothing stopping an observant Jew from eating any of this hybrid fruit. I'm tagging @rosends (who I know is a rabbi) to either confirm or correct my statement on hybrid fruit.

I found this video fascinating, and would very much like to try a plum-egranate, watermelon plum, or aromacot. Anyone else?

I don't think it's a bad thing, but at the same time it sounds alarmist in order to peddle stuff.

Something like Jim Bakker and his survival food, er... if you want to call it food that is.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I'm reminded of the small kibbutz that produces impotent fruit flies. Smart.

 

[Subduction Zone]

"You've probably never seen this fruit in your life. This isn't a plum and it isn't a pomegranate. It's a plum-egranate, and it wasn't just created for you to discover a new flavor. It's one of many new hybrid fruit that are being developed to resist climate change... Welcome to Ben Dor Nurseries, a small family farm operating in Northern Israel that's been here since the late 1800s. Now this isn't any old farm. These farmers are developing new kinds of fruit that are going to be able to withstand all kinds of weather conditions to hopefully fight hunger in the future." (See video below for more.)

The reporter in the video states: "The bottom line is that, as the climate heats up, what we eat is going to have to change because not every crop will survive."

From a religious standpoint (as this is Religious Forums, after all) it's my understanding that, while the Torah says "nay" to propagating hybrid produce, there is nothing stopping an observant Jew from eating any of this hybrid fruit. I'm tagging @rosends (who I know is a rabbi) to either confirm or correct my statement on hybrid fruit.

I found this video fascinating, and would very much like to try a plum-egranate, watermelon plum, or aromacot. Anyone else?

The name is a bit misleading. The name made me think "that's impossible". A hybrid of plums and pomegranates is simply not possible. They are not related to each other in any way. The plumegranate is a plum, apricot hybrid. They are talking about the flavor, not its ancestors:

Introducing Plumogranate Plumcots -- a Skittles Plum!

Plumogranate Plumcots are deeply red, super juicy and seriously sweet. Let's call them Skittles Plums!

www.shockinglydelicious.com

That being said it is a good idea. Different varieties of fruits do better in different environments and they may be able to breed varieties that can take hotter or dryer weather in the process.

 

[rosends]

some resources which confirm that a Jew may eat a hybrid fruit

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1423599/jewish/Can-I-Thank-Gd-for-a-Hybrid-Fruit.htm

Hybrid Fruits | Rabbi Yoel Lieberman | Ask the Rabbi | yeshiva.co

Question on Hybrid Fruits by Rabbi Yoel Lieberman

www.yeshiva.co

What would be an example of permitted vs prohibited cross-grafting with fruit trees?

I haven't studied Tractate Kilayim. I know you can't plant grapes with wheat. What about, say: Jazz apple = Royal Gala apple X Braeburn apple ? Nectarine = Peach X Plum ? Nectaplum = Nectarine ...

judaism.stackexchange.com

 

[VoidCat]

Didnt they make a cabbage with a gene from scorpion vemon many years ago? And glow in the dark cats. I can't remember where but as a kid I remember reading an article on gmos and that popped up. Now that im older i wonder where the article got its sources they probably werent reliable but I honestly don't know.

 

[Rachel Rugelach]

The name is a bit misleading. The name made me think "that's impossible". A hybrid of plums and pomegranates is simply not possible. They are not related to each other in any way. The plumegranate is a plum, apricot hybrid. They are talking about the flavor, not its ancestors:

Introducing Plumogranate Plumcots -- a Skittles Plum!

Plumogranate Plumcots are deeply red, super juicy and seriously sweet. Let's call them Skittles Plums!

www.shockinglydelicious.com

That being said it is a good idea. Different varieties of fruits do better in different environments and they may be able to breed varieties that can take hotter or dryer weather in the process.

Yes, the actual names of the hybrid fruit may cause some people to think that a plum has been crossed with a pomegranate, or a plum crossed with a watermelon (or, as @Quagmire's funny suggestion, a pine tree crossed with an apple tree to produce a "pine-apple"), but yes, those names refer to the taste of the fruit. More importantly, these are actual, new hybrid varieties (the plum-egranate being a plum crossed with an apricot), specifically developed to be resistant to climate change.

 

[Father Heathen]

I don't think it's a bad thing, but at the same time it sounds alarmist in order to peddle stuff.

Something like Jim Bakker and his survival food, er... if you want to call it food that is.

It's "alarmist" because reducing the contributing factors of climate change also reduces profits made from fossil fuels, so they duped dopes into dismissing scientific consensus as a "hoax".

 

[Subduction Zone]

Yes, the actual names of the hybrid fruit may cause some people to think that a plum has been crossed with a pomegranate, or a plum crossed with a watermelon (or, as @Quagmire's funny suggestion, a pine tree crossed with an apple tree to produce a "pine-apple"), but yes, those names refer to the taste of the fruit. More importantly, these are actual, new hybrid varieties (the plum-egranate being a plum crossed with an apricot), specifically developed to be resistant to climate change.

Kosher law can be complex, but I would think that these would be okay since they are essentially "the same kind". It is a naturally occurring hybrid. They just tweaked the percentages of the genome with strategic breeding. The pomegranate is a true berry. Peaches, plums, and apricots are drupes. Berries are a huge group. They include fruits that many people do not think of as "fruit" Such as cucumbers, tomatoes, pomegranates as I said, and the king of the berries, at least by size, the pumpkin. And of course watermelons are berries too.

 

[Rachel Rugelach]

It's "alarmist" because reducing the contributing factors of climate change also reduces profits made from fossil fuels, so they duped dopes into dismissing scientific consensus as a "hoax".

For those who stuck with the video and watched it through, Natasha Kirtchuk, lead anchor for i24News' "Global Eye" reported the following in the video piece linked in my OP: "Global warming has caused almost $100 million in damage to Israeli agriculture in the last year alone, with the hardest-hit sector being fruit. And this is a global issue that can change how we eat as we know it." It's not just Israel that's been affected. Natasha continues: "Multiple studies suggest that climate change can wipe out half of the land used to grow coffee around the world by 2050. And, if you love chocolate, it may be hard to hear but if global temperatures rise by just two degrees Celsius, vast swaths of land across Africa where 50 percent of cacao is produced for around the world will become unsuitable for the crop, meaning that your chocolate bar could become a luxury."

 

[Subduction Zone]

Didnt they make a cabbage with a gene from scorpion vemon many years ago? And glow in the dark cats. I can't remember where but as a kid I remember reading an article on gmos and that popped up. Now that im older i wonder where the article got its sources they probably werent reliable but I honestly don't know.

Interesting. At least in regards to the scorpion venom claim. Now those cabbages would almost certainly not be regarded as kosher. The idea was to take a gene that made a neurotoxin that affected insects but not mammals. And it was rather promising but never worked out. Less pesticide would have been needed, but even if it worked insects tend to evolve methods to deal with pesticides given enough time.

Here is a more recent article on why it failed:

The unfulfilled promises of scorpion insectotoxins - PMC

Since the description and biochemical characterization of the first insect-specific neurotoxins from scorpion venoms, almost all contributions have highlighted their potential application as leads for the development of potent bioinsecticides. Their ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[JIMMY12345]

"You've probably never seen this fruit in your life. This isn't a plum and it isn't a pomegranate. It's a plum-egranate, and it wasn't just created for you to discover a new flavor. It's one of many new hybrid fruit that are being developed to resist climate change... Welcome to Ben Dor Nurseries, a small family farm operating in Northern Israel that's been here since the late 1800s. Now this isn't any old farm. These farmers are developing new kinds of fruit that are going to be able to withstand all kinds of weather conditions to hopefully fight hunger in the future." (See video below for more.)

The reporter in the video states: "The bottom line is that, as the climate heats up, what we eat is going to have to change because not every crop will survive."

From a religious standpoint (as this is Religious Forums, after all) it's my understanding that, while the Torah says "nay" to propagating hybrid produce, there is nothing stopping an observant Jew from eating any of this hybrid fruit. I'm tagging @rosends (who I know is a rabbi) to either confirm or correct my statement on hybrid fruit.

I found this video fascinating, and would very much like to try a plum-egranate, watermelon plum, or aromacot. Anyone else?

I hope they keep the sugar down. In 20 years fruit will be as bad a sweets due to the high sugar varieties.